Flying machine



sept. 7, 192e. 1,598,999

l. WILLIAMS FLYING MAGHINE @E 6a@ 6o 62672 (75.3

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Sept. V7 1926. 1,598,998

l. WILLIAMS FLYING MACHINE Original Filed Jan. 4. 1919 2 sheetshe"t 2 No I Patented sept. 7, 1926.

UNITED STATES ISRAEL WILLIAMS, OF LIMA, OHIO.

FLYING MACHINE.

Original application nlcd January 4, 1919, Serial No. 269,563. Divided and this application nled Hatch 9, 1922. Serial No. 542,306.

This invention relates to improvements in flying machines, this aplication being a division of application for patent filed by me on the 4th day of January, 1919, and on which Patent-No. 1,408,918 was. granted March 7th, 1922.

Objects of my present invention are to so construct a flylng machine or air ship that it shall have great carrying capacity to provide simple and eilicient means to permit the machine to be run at any desired speed or be permitted to float without being propelled forwardly, and to so construct the machine that it may be launched or landed safely, and so that danger of accidents shall be reduced to a minimum.

With these and other objects in view,the

' inventionv consists in certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts as hereinafter set forth and pointed out in the l claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure -1 is a view in elevation' showing an air ship embodying my improvements. Figure 2 is afront end View, and Figure 3 is a rear end vlew. V

. 1 represents frame-work which may comprise front and rear vertical bars 2-3, top

bars 5 and bottom bars 6, and within this framework several decks 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 are provided and suitably braced by uprights, such as shown at 12. The top and bottom bars of the framework are extended beyond the front vertical bars as shown at 13 and14 and between these extensions, a rudder 15 is located and suitably journaled.

l This rudder comprises a frame 16 in which the rudder blades are mounted and said frame includes in its structure a vertical shaft 17 mounted in front of the framework and in the upper and lower extensions 13-14 of the main frame. A bracket 18 is secured to the forward portion of the rudder frame and provides a bearing for the shaft 19 of a forward propeller 20.- The shaft 19 is connected, by a knuckleor universal coupling 21 with a driving shaft 22 and the latter is driven from motors 23 located on one of the decks. A collar 22 is secured to the driving shaft 22 and bears against the front end of the frame so that the propelling'force of the propeller 20 .will

be imparted tothe latter." In Figure 1 of.

the drawing I have shown two motors 23,

or shaft 28 as but it will be understood that a greater number may be employed and suitably geared to the shaft 22. By mounting the shaft of the forward propeller in the rudder frame and connecting it with a driving shaft through the medium ofa knuckle or universal coupling, the propeller may be shifted with the rudder and thus assist in control- Iling the direction of travel of the machine.

A horizontal shaft 24 is suitably mounted in the framework approximately in line with the longitudinal axis thereof land preferably in a plane above that of the forward propeller shaft. The mounting of the shaft 24 is such that it is susceptible of slight end- `wise play, for a purpose which will herein after appear. The shaft 24 extends beyondV the rear end of the frame-work and has a bearing in-a bracket 25, and this shaft carries a rear propeller 26. A plurality of motors 27 may be located on the deck 8 and geared by suitablevbelting to the shaft 24 for driving the same and the rear propeller.

The rear end of. a bar or nonrotary shaft 28 is connected, by a ball-and-socket or other universalcouplng (as shown at 29) with the forward end of the rear propeller shaft 24. The bar or 'shaft 28 extends beyond the forward end of the framework and carries a pinion 30 to mesh with a curved rack 31 which forms part of a frame 32 secured to the front vertical bars of said framework.

The frame 32 will thus be caused to take the .forward thrust or pressure of the rear propeller, and by shifting the bar or shaft u .and down, its angle relatively rto the sha of the rear prope ler may be changed, and as the pressure exerted by the rear propeller through' the shafts 24--28 to the forward bracket v32, the machine will'be guided in a vertical vdirection according to the adjustment of the shaft 28, and the planes (herep inafter to be described) caused to assume an altered angle to the horizontal and thus the machine may be caused to rise or descend. For the urpose of shifting the bar above described, a wheel 33. may be suitably mounted between the decks 89 and connected, by a rod 34, with said bar or shaft.

A vertical shaft 35 is mounted centrally in the framework and to this shaft, upper and lower horizontally disposed prope 1ers 36, 37 are secured,said Propellers serving to assist in causing the ascent of the machine; to lassist in sustainingv the same in the air, and in controlling the speed of descent of the machine,thus rendering the launching and landing of the machine safe and easily controlled. For the purpose of driving the vertical shaft of the horizontal propellers, a suitable number of motors 38 (three being shown in the drawing) may be employed and sultably geared to said shaft. In order that the lifting power of the horizontal propellers may be transmitted to the framework, a collar 39 may be secured to the at eat speed, I employ pneumatic propelling and lifting instrumentalities, and these will now be explained.

A plurality of fans or blowers 52 is supported on a swinging frame 53 disposed between the decks 7 and 8 with these blowers, intake tubes or stacks 53 communicate, said tubes or stacks extending upwardly through the decks.8, 9, l0 and 1l and through the upper frame member 5a and are open at their uper ends. These tubes may extend upward any suitable distance or they may be cut olf at a level with the deck above.

shaft 35 and adapted to bear upwardly Discharge pipes 54 communicate with the against the upper member 58L of the framework.

For the purpose of sustainin the machine when in Hight, a plurality o planes will be employed and in order that they may be controlled cause them to efectually sustain the weight ofthe machine in the air and balance the machine, at least some of said planes are made in sections, as clearly shown in Figure 3. Y

A plane .40 is located upon the top of the framework and maybe provided with openings 41 so as not to interfere with the access of air to the propeller 36.

A fixed inclined plane 42 is located at the forward end of the frame between the upper frame extension 13 and the Aupper frame member 5a so as to be disposed in front of the upper horizontal propeller and a similar inclined plane may be located in rear of the said propeller. Fixed inclined planes 43-v 43 are also located betweenthe upper frame member 5a `and the upper deck 11, and fixed inclined planes 44-44 are also located between the decks 7 and 8.1 Inclined planes 45 are located between the deck 7 and the bottom member 6 of the framework and rigidly secured to both. A fixed inclined plane 42a is also secured to lower frame eX- tension 14 and a bracket 42b depending from the lower frame member 6, so as to be disposed in front of the lower horizontal propeller, and an inclined plane may be similarly disposed in rear of said lower horizontal propeller. The fixed inclined planes 42 and 42EL protect the horizontal propellers from the current of the air when the machine is moving `forward.

Between the decks 8, 9; 9, l0, and 10, 11, three sets of planes 46, 47, 48 are-disposed, each of said planes being hinged at one end to one of said decks, and the other ends of the hinged planes the three sets are connected with verticall shftable bars 49. For the purpose of s ifting these bars to change the angle of the hinged lanes and thlxs control the flight of the mac 'ne, hand wheels 50 are provided and connected with -said shiftable bars by means of links 51.

In order to increase the power of the machine to carrylarge cargoes and to travel thrust or pressure and transmit the same to blowers 52 and discharge at their rear end of '30 the machine. The fans or blowers 52 are driven by suitable motors, such as illustrated at 55a and they serve to take air from the upper part of the machine and discharge the same with suicient force rearwardly to propel the machine forwardly by the impact of such discharged air against the atmosphere. The operation of the fans or blowers in forcibly ejecting the air rearwardly of the machine will cause a backard pressure against the blowers, and the latter being mounted upon a swinging frame, the pressure may be transmitted to the forward end of the machine. For this purpose, a rod 55 is connected with the several blowers 52 and with this rod, a shaft or rod 56 is loosely connected, the forward end of said shaft or rod being adj ustably connected with the forward part of the machine. In effecting such adjustable connection of the shaft or rod 56 with the frame, a pinion 57 is mounted near the forward end of said shaft or rod and meshes with a rack 58 which constitutes the part of a frame 59 secured to the front of the frame of the machine. The shaft or rod 56 is connected with the hand wheel 33 by means of a link 60, so that when said wheel is turned, the shaft or rod 56 will be adjusted to properly take the backward the front of the machine, said wheel being manipulated by the operator when the angle of inclination of the machine, when in flight, changes.

Other blowers 61 driven by motors 62 are disposed between the decks 7-8 and are supported by rods 62 suspended from the upper member 5a of the framework. Air intake pipes or stacks 63 extend from these blowers to the upper part of the'machine, or any less height as may be desired; and pipes 64 communicating with said blowers 61 discharge the air with considerable pressure downwardly against the air under the machine. The forcible downward discharge of air 125 from the pipes 64 will serve to cause the machine to rise and a diminution of such pressure will assist in effecting gradual descent of the machine. The backward pressure against the blowers 61 will be in an up-'130 charge pipes 68 extend rearwardly therefrom and forcibly eject the air rearwardly of the machine to add to the propulsion of the latter. The backward thrust or pressure of the blowers 66 will be transmitted to the forward part of the machine by means of rods such as shown at 69,-the rear ends of said rods being secured to said blowers and their forward ends being secured to the front part of the framework.

For the purpose of operating the rudder to steer the machine,l a handlwheel 70 may be provided, said wheel havingconnected therewith, two chains 71--71 which extend in opposite directions from said wheel `and after passing over pulleys 72 mounted on the frame, are connected with the rudder. Thus by turning the hand wheel 70 in one direction or the other, sufficient power will 1be transmitted to the rudder properly-to siiift the same.

Legs 73 or wheels may be secured to the i bottom member of the frame for supporting the machine when at rest upon the ground.

It will be observed that with my improvements all the forwardly propelling force ,is imparted to the frontpart of the machine,` and that all the lifting or elevating force bears at the top or upper part of the framework. It will also be observed that the upper propeller is located in the space between the upper members 5A and 5a ofthe framework and that said upper and lower propellers are disposed `in rear of the fixed planes 42 and 4:2il respectivelyf-whieh planes forni parts of the framework. Any suitable ineans may be provided for controlling the motors and blowers.

Various changes might be made in the details 4of construction of my invention without departing from the spirit thereof or limiting its scope and hence I do not wish to restrict invself tothe precise details herein set fort Having fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. 'In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a driving shaft, a rudder, a forward propeller, a shaft therefor mounted on said.rudder and having a knuckle-joint connection with said driving shaft, and manually 4operable means for shifting the rudder and forward ropeller.

2. In a flying mac ine, the combination of a frame, a plurality of superimposed decks therein, inclined planes connected with said frame between the top and bottom thereof, between said decks, and at the top and bottom of the f rame and driving means for the machine supported by said frame.

,3. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, a plurality of -superimposed decks, inclined planes, rotary propellers,

pneumatic propellers, and driving means for said propellers vand controlling means mounted in the frame.

4. In a flying machine, the combination with a frame and planes carried thereby, of front and rear rotary propellers, means for transmitting the driving force of said propellers to the forward end of the machine, rear pneumatic propellers, means transmitting the rearward thrust of said pneumatic propellers to the forward end of the machine.

5. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame, means for propelling the mahineforwardly, upperand lowerhorizon- 'tal propellers and an inclined plane in front of and in line with each horizontal propeller.

6. In a flying machine, the combination of a frame having forward upper and lower extensions, upper and lower horizontal propellers, and xed inclined upper and lower planes in front of and in line with the upper and lower horizontal propellers, the forward ends of said inclined planes being secured to the forward end'portions of said upper and lower extensions of the frame.

In testimony whereof I Ahave signed this specification.

ISRAEL WILLIAMS. 

